half submerged diesel engine
 

Our boat leaks a lot but today the bilge pumps failed, luckily a neighbour
called us before it sank completely.

Anyway, our three cylinder raw water cooled Yanmar diesel engine got flooded
little over half way. Starter and solenoid were completely submerged under
water. Air intake remained on surface. Exhaust remained over surface and I
believe that no water got inside the combustion chambers.
The flywheel casing has openings and was completely filled with salt water.
I didn't try to start the engine for I was worried possible damage to the
started and electrical circuitry.

My question is that what should I do now?

Thanks for any tips,

Joe

"kim" wrote in message
...
Our boat leaks a lot but today the bilge pumps failed, luckily a neighbour
called us before it sank completely.

Anyway, our three cylinder raw water cooled Yanmar diesel engine got
flooded
little over half way. Starter and solenoid were completely submerged under
water. Air intake remained on surface. Exhaust remained over surface and I
believe that no water got inside the combustion chambers.
The flywheel casing has openings and was completely filled with salt
water.
I didn't try to start the engine for I was worried possible damage to the
started and electrical circuitry.

My question is that what should I do now?

Thanks for any tips,

Joe

Immediately flush it with clean (non-salt) water. Try to rinse out/off all
the salt water...including the electrical components that were submerged.

Let it dry very well. Use fans or heaters if you can.

Since you're pretty sure there was no internal ingestion, once you're sure
it is very dry, and that there is no water in the fuel, give it a crank and
see what happens.

Good luck.

--
-Netsock

"It's just about going fast...that's all..."
http://home.columbus.rr.com/ckg/

please wails:

-My question is that what should I do now?-

Bilge-Memories of the MV SeaLand Voyager...a tug T-Boned her and she sank into
the mud of Yokohama harbor...it was weird having a "high water mark" in the
engine room spaces. Interesting .jpg's too...not often that you see a 9
cylinder Sulzer slow speed sitting in water up to the cylinder head deck.

1- Call your insurance agent...no insurance?

2- Call a boat lift or marine railway...get the boat out of the water.

3-Call a tow to 2 above

4- Call a mechanic for a complete electro-mechanical overhaul.

Have some stuff to do, I'll check back this space later.


G'luck


Mutiny is a Management Tool
Select Your Tattoo while Sober

Since you're pretty sure there was no internal ingestion, once you're sure
it is very dry, and that there is no water in the fuel, give it a crank and
see what happens.

Unless you are absolutely certain there was no water ingestion, pull the
injectors, squirt in a little lube oil, and crank it around a time to two to be
sure there is no water in the engine before starting it.

If you hydrolock, it could ruin the engine.

I got water in my engine a year ago, (via a failed solder join in the
aftercooler bundle), and I got to put in a new engine as a very expensive
result.

Subject: half submerged diesel engine
From: kim lid


Anyway, our three cylinder raw water cooled Yanmar diesel engine got flooded
little over half way.

Drain the oil and look for water in it. Same with tranny.
Carefully wash down the engine and tranny on the out side with hot water and
Salt-X or Saltaway. Rince, repeat. :-)

Starter and solenoid were completely submerged under
water.

Replace both and maybe wash, rebuild and lube well old starter as spare.

Air intake remained on surface. Exhaust remained over surface and I
believe that no water got inside the combustion chambers.

Like I said, check the oil.

The flywheel casing has openings and was completely filled with salt water.

Wash, wash and wash some more. I would pull the transmission away from the
engine so you can wash and inspect flywheel and drive plate.
And be prepared to wire brush, prime and spot paint where needed.

I didn't try to start the engine for I was worried possible damage to the
started and electrical circuitry.

Look closely at all wiring that may have gotten wet. Replace any that is
suspect.

Capt. Bill

I'd give some thought to finding out why your boat "leaks a lot" and fixing
that also.....
If it "leaks a lot" , it's not really a boat, but rather some sort of fine
mesh sieve...

"kim" wrote in message
...
Our boat leaks a lot but today the bilge pumps failed, luckily a neighbour
called us before it sank completely.

Anyway, our three cylinder raw water cooled Yanmar diesel engine got
flooded
little over half way. Starter and solenoid were completely submerged under
water. Air intake remained on surface. Exhaust remained over surface and I
believe that no water got inside the combustion chambers.
The flywheel casing has openings and was completely filled with salt
water.
I didn't try to start the engine for I was worried possible damage to the
started and electrical circuitry.

My question is that what should I do now?

Thanks for any tips,

Joe

part 2:

5- Get a 5 gallon pail of electrical motor cleaner...not spray cans...you want
to immerse the starter motor and solenoid in it,(after removing it safely from
circuit and from the engine). This will remove the oil and spooge that the
water deposited into the windings of the armature and the coil. Let the starter
and solenoid dry thoroughly and then check them for resistance from terminal to
ground and from terminal to terminal...if you read 0 ohms terminal to ground,
you're grounded, if you read 0 ohms terminal to terminal, you're shorted.

6- Disconnect your battery, and using a spray bottle, spray all of your wiring
terminals that got wet. wipe them down and let them dry thoroughly. Then start
reading resistances to ground and from positive battery cable on "downstream"
to above the high-water mark. Only if you have infinite or high resistance to
ground, and low resistance through the circuitry should you then attempt
energizing the circuit(s).

7- Sorry, to belabor the obvious, but find and fix the leak. Relying on your
bilge pump to keep afloat is not good seamanship. Such a craft is not
seaworthy...and as you will no doubt soon learn, fixing boats is expensive and
it sucks. Much cheaper and easier to prevent problems rather than repair them.

G'luck;
Mutiny is a Management Tool
Select Your Tattoo while Sober

Flush everything you can with fresh water. Then get it started and get it
thoroughly heated up and let it run a while.

"kim" wrote in message
...
Our boat leaks a lot but today the bilge pumps failed, luckily a neighbour
called us before it sank completely.

Anyway, our three cylinder raw water cooled Yanmar diesel engine got
flooded
little over half way. Starter and solenoid were completely submerged under
water. Air intake remained on surface. Exhaust remained over surface and I
believe that no water got inside the combustion chambers.
The flywheel casing has openings and was completely filled with salt
water.
I didn't try to start the engine for I was worried possible damage to the
started and electrical circuitry.

My question is that what should I do now?

Thanks for any tips,

Joe

JamesgangNC wrote:

Flush everything you can with fresh water. Then get it started and get it
thoroughly heated up and let it run a while.


Thank you all for tips. I flushed the engine with fresh water, let it dry
for one day and today it started with no problem. Only the alternator seems
damaged, the 'charge' alarm is on. However, with high revs the 'charge'
warning light dims. Voltmeter showed very slow increase in voltage after
having run the engine for like half an hour, voltage peaked at 12.8V). So
maybe the alternator is not completely dead, although it doesn't charge as
before.

The boat is an uninsured old wooden sail boat of carvel plank-on-frame
construction. It leaks significantly only after being sailed hard to
windward. Mast is keel stepped, and leakage occurs when tiny gaps open
between the first plank and keelson near the mast step. I was thinking that
maybe building a stainless steel frame connecting chainplates, keelson,
keel bolts and mast step would reinforce the setup enough for keeping the
planks together and allow for shrouds to be tightened more? The mast is
really heavy, solid oregon pine over 50 feet tall. One boatbuilder
suggested that the real culprit are the keel bolts. Anyway I'm planning to
get the leak sorted out but with minimal budget. Any ideas how to solve
this?

Thanks,

Joe

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 20:42:04 +0300, kim wrote:

It leaks significantly only after being sailed hard to
windward.

It's trying to tell you not to do that. :-)

Mast is keel stepped, and leakage occurs when tiny gaps open
between the first plank and keelson near the mast step. I was thinking that
maybe building a stainless steel frame connecting chainplates, keelson,
keel bolts and mast step would reinforce the setup enough for keeping the
planks together and allow for shrouds to be tightened more?

Is it possible you've got too much rig tension? You can not set up
the rigging bar tight on an old wooden boat without stressing it out.

I'm not a wooden boat expert nor do I play one on the internet. I've
read enough of these discussions in the past however to know that
there are almost never any quick and easy solutions. It's almost a
certainty that the boat did not leak like that when it was new, so the
real question is, what has changed? Common problems are loose
fasteners, cracked ribs, spongy planks, and/or a need for re-caulking.
If the boat is worth saving at all, it's worth having an expert look
it over and figure out which of the above is applicable, if any.
There is a newsgroup called "rec.boats.building" which has a fair
number of wooden boat experts. I'd recomend reposting your question
there but you also need to find some local talent.